DOI: 10.5176/2251-2853_2.1.93
Authors: Kokitboon Fukham
Abstract:
In semantics literature, the actual semantic content of English prepositions has received peripheral attention since English prepositions are viewed as function words that depict little lexical meanings but functions which show syntactic links between words within a sentence. Recent studies, in fact, demonstrate that English prepositions encompass spatial and cognitive meanings. English prepositions In and On also constitute multiple meanings and this accidentally represents that one linguistic form of one language may have multiple meanings in another language. In English-Thai translation, English prepositions In and On have Naj and Bon as their equivalent words. In this regard, the nature of meanings of these prepositions may pose a problem since meaning encoded in a lexical item differs crosslinguistically. Although such word exists in one language, it may or may not represent the same meaning in another language. This paper, hence, explores the meanings embodied in English prepositions In and On and examines how those meanings are translated into Thai. The data obtained from an English-Thai corpus used in this study yield that the embodied meanings of English prepositions can have multiple interpretations in Thai.
Keywords: English prepositions in and on, Thai prepositions naj and bon, spatial and cognitive meanings, mental lexicon
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